Decoding the Password
by UndoubtedlyTheWine
Summary: Daya loves guessing their laptop password. It is a stupid little game, which he and Shreya play all the time. But Daya never dreamt that decoding the password when he needed it the most could be so difficult post his and Shreya's silly little argument. A DaReya Two -shot.
1. Chapter 1

**Decoding the Password**

 **Saturday** **,** **10.30 pm** **, CID Bureau -**

'Daya man, you are amazing! How did you manage to crack the password so easily? It was so spontaneous as if you already knew it!' exclaimed Abhijeet as they were leaving for home.

Daya smiled and said 'Guess I got lucky'

Daya had somewhat developed the knack of decoding passwords recently. It was a silly game which he and Shreya played all the time.

They shared a single laptop at home and Shreya would keep on changing the passwords and then they would see how fast Daya could guess it.

It was a fun affair. Through passwords, she would leave romantic messages for him like: _twistedoveryou_ or _Iwanttokissyou_ and when she would be angry they went like this: _youaresofullofarrogance_ or _buyyourownlaptop_ or _youdontcareformeanymore._

Ofcourse for Daya, it was very easy. He could read Shreya's mind so clearly that he knew what she would be thinking of.

When Daya reached home about an hour later, he saw that Shreya was fast asleep.

He had a hectic and tiring day and his head had begun to ache. He was thinking of making himself a cup of coffee when the doorbell rang.

'Hello there cop!' came their neighbour Aisha's voice as he opened the door.

'Aisha! How are you? Long time huh?' said Daya smiling.

'Yeah I was on a holiday in France' said Aisha.

'Wow. Lucky you. I don't know when are we going to get some time off like this.' said Daya glumly.

'Aren't you going to invite me in?' asked Aisha.

'Yes ofcourse' said Daya smiling. 'Come in'

'I was alone and was wondering whether I could catch up with Shreya and you for a cup of coffee or something. Shreya had told me that you guys stay up late during weekends so...' said Aisha.

'You are right on the cue. I was just thinking of making one' said Daya.

'Great' said Aisha smiling.

Daya and Aisha stayed up chatting almost till 12.00 am. When Aisha left, Daya took the third coffee cup to his room. He read a novel for some time and then went off to sleep.

 **O-o-o-o**

 **Next Day, 8** **.30 am -** **  
**  
It was an exceptionally crazy Sunday morning in CID officer Daya's household.

Daya woke up to the sound of Shreya talking or rather screaming shrilly. Daya wondered who she was talking to. Daya stepped down from the bed and - SMASH!

'What the -' Daya began when realised that his foot had hit the coffee cup which had been lurking at the foot of his bed.

The next moment, Shreya barged into their bedroom.

'What did you do now?' she asked in a shrill voice.

Looking at her state and the tone of her voice, Daya knew she was really pissed off about something.

Clearing his throat, he said softly 'Uh... I smashed the coffee cup... But don't worry I'll clean the mess'

'Wow! What a great start to a Sunday morning!' she said and stomped out of the room.

Daya followed her into the kitchen.

'Shreya what's wrong?' he asked.

'What's wrong?! What's wrong? How dare you ask me such questions Daya? How can you be so irresponsible?' she asked angrily.

'What did I do?' asked Daya looking surprised.

'You left the lid of the sugar container open. AGAIN. And now this place is smarming with ants!' said Shreya slamming the lid shut.

Daya bit his tongue.

'Listen I am sorry I -' Daya began but Shreya cut him mid sentence.

'And that's not all. You didn't bother to throw away the empty milk carton. And we are out of Coffee as well. I had reminded you at least three times yesterday. You very well know that I need a strong Cup of coffee on Sundays. You could have at least left a spoonful of Coffee for me' said Shreya.

'Well Aisha turned up yesterday night. And I obviously had to offer her coffee. You can't blame me for that!' said Daya.

'Oh of course. You couldn't deny her coffee. Who cares about what your wife says? Let her continue to rant. Just Ignore her. It doesn't matter anymore' said Shreya acidly.

'Oh come on Shreya do you even know what you are talking about? And I came home at 11.30 yesterday! How do you expect me to get coffee?' asked Daya.

'Still you could have closed the lid of the sugar jar and threw away the milk carton!' said Shreya enraged.

'I said I am sorry!' retorted Daya angrily.

'Sorry! Right! It's so easy for you to say sorry and forget all about it. I mean look at this house! We both live here and we both work almost the same hours. Then why can't you just help me with some daily chores?' asked Shreya.

'I was really tired Shreya' said Daya.

'But still you had time to talk to Aisha and read till 1 am' said Shreya coldly.

'I - wait! How do you know I was reading till one? You were awake?' asked Daya surprised.

'Never mind that! My point is you do not help me at all' said Shreya.

Without a word to her, he got the bug spray and sprayed it along the trail of ants.

'Look I am sorry. I won't forget now onwards.' said Daya.

'What about the mess in our bedroom?' asked Shreya.

'I am cleaning it.' said Daya hastily.

Grabbing the broom and the dustpan, he whisked away the remains of the smashed cup.

'Let's forget about the Sugar and the coffee Cup now.' he said returning to the kitchen.

She looked away still feeling very angry.

He caught her wrist and pulled her close.

'Daya wha -' she began but her words were drowned as he captured her lips in a kiss. He wrapped his hands around her waist tightly.

She managed to break free from the kiss and said, 'Don't even think about it'

'Oh come on... I can see you are in mood' said Daya naughtily kissing her neck.

Shreya faltered a bit and a moan escaped her lips.

Daya smiled.

'No! Just get away from me.' said Shreya pushing him away.

'Shreya please... why are you making such a fuss over silly things?' said Daya.

'Now onwards every Sunday would be your Chore Day. You will help me in doing household chores' she said.

Daya sighed. He really had a bad feeling about this. This was going to turn out to be a really heated argument. He had been looking forward to a relaxing and a lazy Sunday but thanks to his wife, he had lost all the hope.

But then his eyes became really wide.

'Damn!' Daya exclaimed.

Shreya ignored his sudden outburst. She was busy writing something on a small notepad.

'Shreya I totally forgot to tell you. I have work today. ACP sir has called us for some urgent work on the drug deal case which we were working on.' he said.

'I have made a list. I will post it on the refrigerator so that you won't forget' said Shreya ignoring him completely.

'Shreya please stop this nonsense! Don't you get it? I have work this Sunday.' said Daya his temper rising.

'So what? If I can manage both Home and work, why can't you?' she enquired.

'Because I am not a perfectionist like you, got that?' said Daya heatedly.

'Well too bad for you! But I am sorry my dear husband... I really can't help you there. I am going out somewhere. I might come late tonight. Till then you please get these things done.' said Shreya coolly pointing at the list on the refrigerator.

'What's wrong with you Shreya? Can't you manage all this for one day? And where are you going?' asked Daya.

'I have been managing both for a month! It's you who has to manage it for one day.' said Shreya.

'I won't. I won't do it, you got that?' interjected Daya angrily.

'Well you leave me no choice. I won't step a foot into this house till you learn to be a responsible husband.' Shreya yelled.

'Fine! I don't need you okay? I will manage on my own' Daya yelled back.

'Yeah, you don't need me. Right. I can't believe you changed so much just three months into our marriage. You don't care for me anymore. What my girlfriends say is absolutely right. All men are alike. Once they get what they want, they'll treat you like trash.' said Shreya and marched out of the Kitchen tears sloshing all over her place.

'Shreya I didn't mean to hurt you!' Daya yelled after her but she was already out of earshot.

He glanced at the clock. He was already running late. Cursing his bad luck, he ran into the bathroom to take a quick shower.

Shreya wiped angry tears off her face.

 _'How dare he treat me like that? I am not coming back to you Daya!' she said aloud._

She spotted his laptop on the table. She surveyed the messy room and the dirty laundry from last week was lying around the chair with disgust. With an evil smile, Shreya switched it on and changed the password.

 _There you go my intelligent husband! Let's see how you crack this code._

When Daya came out of the shower, Shreya was nowhere to be seen. Thinking he would apologize to her later, he quickly grabbed his laptop and the list which Shreya had stuck on the refrigerator. In next five minutes, his car had sped off to CID Bureau.

 **O-o-o-o**

Till mid afternoon, Daya and Abhijeet had spent most of the time looking for the whereabouts of the drugs.

Despite being tied up with work, Daya tried calling Shreya. But she neither answered any of his calls nor called him back.

When they returned to the bureau, ACP Pradyuman said, 'Daya just transfer me the files relating to this case from your laptop. Then we are done for the day. You guys are ready to go. I will be right back. I have to make a call.'

'Oh great' said Abhijeet.

As Daya turned the power on, a familiar password box flashed on the screen.

Daya scratched his head to remember what the last password was.

'Yeah it was: _Awesomemovienight_ ' said Daya aloud.

But the moment he typed it, the screen flashed an error message 'INCORRECT PASSWORD'

Daya wondered how had he got it wrong.

'What kind of password is that?' asked Abhijeet.

'Oh no! Shreya!' Daya exclaimed suddenly ignoring Abhijeet's question.

'Huh? Shreya?' said Abhijeet.

'Shreya must have changed the password!' said Daya.

'What's the big deal? Call her and ask.' said Abhijeet.

'I wish it could have been that easy.' said Daya.

'What do you mean?' asked Abhijeet.

'It's... Abhijeet, can you call Shreya? She might answer your call. We had an argument in the morning and I vented out all the frustration on her and said stupid things and...' said Daya.

'Ah, I get it.' said Abhijeet smiling.

Abhijeet tried calling her but she didn't answer any of his calls.

Meanwhile Daya called up Purvi and Tarika but Shreya wasn't with both of them.

Daya gritted his teeth in anger. He sent her a text message _: Where the hell are you? Shreya this is not funny. Just tell me the goddamn password. I know you have changed it in the morning!_ _  
_  
'She is not answering my calls. Why don't you try guessing it? You guessed the complex password so quickly yesterday. It could be your birth date or your anniversary date or something like that' said Abhijeet.

'No it can't be like that' said Daya quickly.

'Why? Usually we keep loved one's name or birth date or combination of both as password' said Abhijeet.

'But Shreya doesn't set the password that way. You see she usually leaves me messages according to her mood or you know...' said Daya awkwardly.

'How innovative!' said Abhijeet chortling.

'I know it sounds stupid' said Daya looking sheepish.

'Wait. You said you had an argument with her right? So she might have set password related to that?' asked Abhijeet.

'Yeah. You are right. But I can't think of anything at the moment. Abhijeet if I can't open this thing before ACP sir comes back, I am screwed - Big Time.' said Daya.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

'Don't worry. Let's try. This is gonna be fun!' said Abhijeet excitedly.

'Abhijeet this is not funny', said Daya angrily.

'Okay. Okay. Sorry' said Abhijeet smiling.

'It could be _youdontlovemeanymore_ or _dontforgettogetthegrocery_ ' said Daya.

'Nope. That's too lame. Try this _Ihateyoudaya_ or even better _dayayouareanass_ or _fuckoffdaya_ '  
said Abhijeet sniggering.

'Shut up' said Daya through gritted teeth. Nevertheless, he tried those. Still he continued getting 'INCORRECT PASSWORD' error.

After half an hour ACP Pradyuman walked into the CID bureau.

'Daya are you done? Shall we call it a day?' asked ACP Pradyuman.

Abhijeet had to stuff his fist in the mouth to stop himself from laughing.

Daya kicked him hard under the table.

'S - sir actually there is a problem' he said stammering.

'What problem?' asked ACP Pradyuman.

'Sir I f - forgot the password of my laptop. And without password it won't start up' said Daya.

ACP Pradyuman's eyes went as wide as saucers.

'What? How can you forget your password? How can you be so irresponsible?' he asked angrily.

'Sir I am trying' said Daya not meeting his eye.

'Trying?! Exactly how much more time are you going to require? And Abhijeet why are you smirking?' asked ACP Pradyuman irritably.

'No sir I am not! Sir we will do it. We are quite close. Just give us few more minutes' said Abhijeet hastily.

For the next half an hour, they kept trying out stupid passwords hoping one of them would work. Daya even tried putting names of grocery items which Shreya had listed on the note.

And to add to that, they had to endure ACP Pradyuman's angry glares and impatient 'tut's.

Now ACP Pradyuman had had enough. He slammed his fist on the table in anger.

'I don't believe this! Two senior officers can't crack a simple password! Ridiculous! Daya I had expected better of you! The thing that you can't guess the password of your own laptop is unbelievable!' he said.

'Sir please we are close -' said Abhijeet but ACP Pradyuman's angry voice drowned his words.

'No! I will not tolerate this nonsense for another minute! Do you realise you are costing me precious minutes here? Do you have a backup of this? Or have you made a copy?' asked ACP Pradyuman.

'Sir I don't think so' said Daya in a low voice.

'Daya -' ACP Pradyuman began angrily.

'Sir I have a better idea. Shreya might know the password. But right now her cell phone is out of reach. So I think we all should leave now. Once Daya gets the password, he will be able to email you the files by night' said Abhijeet calmly.

ACP Pradyuman thought for a moment and then said, 'Yeah I guess that will be fine with me'

'Thank you sir' said Daya gratefully.

'It's okay Daya it happens. Let's get going. I have to attend a party in the evening' said ACP Pradyuman merrily and walked out of the bureau.

Daya kept staring open mouthed at him.

'What?' Abhijeet asked with a confused look.

'What kind of a person is he? After making us work like donkeys throughout the afternoon, all he says is it happens? What was the point of wasting half an hour here?' asked Daya.

'Calm down Daya' said Abhijeet slapping him on the back.

'This is all Shreya's fault! Let her come back home! I am never going to forgive her for what she did today!' said Daya seething in anger.

'Daya I think this is a bad idea! It would lead to fights and serve nothing. Instead I would suggest you do something that will subdue her anger' said Abhijeet.

'Like what?' asked Daya.

'Like buying the grocery and cleaning the house?' suggested Abhijeet.

'What?! You are siding with her! I hope you haven't forgotten that you are my friend before her!' said Daya.

'I am not taking her side. And I haven't forgotten anything. It's a suggestion for your own good. No use stretching the silly argument for this long' said Abhijeet.

'Okay fine' agreed Daya quite half heartedly.

 **O-o-o-o**

It was raining quite heavily and Daya could barely see two feet in front of him.

He then stopped at the supermarket and got cereal, veggies and some other stuff which Shreya had listed in the grocery shopping list.

When he reached home, he placed the shopping bags on the kitchen counter. He unwrapped the energy bar and placed it into his mouth.

He looked around the house. It indeed looked like a pig sty. He decided he would tidy it a bit.

He crunched the energy bar wrapper in his hand. Normally he would have shoved it into his jeans pocket but today he headed straight towards the trashcan. He picked up the books, newspapers and magazines strewn across the floor and placed them neatly on the shelf. He put the grocery and the veggies in their right place. He made the bed and neatly placed the cushions on it, occasionally eliminating the unnecessary trash.

After an hour of rearranging and putting things back to where they belonged, the house looked a bit cleaner and tidier. He looked around the house and let out a low whistle. He was feeling quite satisfied with his work.

He ordered some Pizza for dinner as he sat flicking through random TV channels.

He saw a pile of freshly washed clothes lying around. He turned on the radio which blasted out his favourite music. Daya liked ironing clothes. It had been his favourite pastime. True it was a very housewife - ey thing to do but he couldn't help it.

He noticed that Shreya had washed her new dress which he had gifted her on their anniversary. He began ironing it. But half way through his ironing process he was plunged into total darkness.

'Bloody power cuts!' Daya muttered.

Without turning off the electric iron, Daya went back to the living room leaving his ironing half finished.

The rain continued hammering outside.

He saw that the clock had struck 10 pm. He tried calling Shreya but her cell phone was out of reach. He was starting to get a little worried now. It was pretty late. Anger rose inside him once again. What the hell was she thinking? There was no need to make such a fuss about it.

He sat in the chair, his eyes closed, in the flickering light of the candle. He decided he would wait some more time for her to arrive.

A few minutes later he heard the lock turn and much to his relief Shreya stepped into the house, the keys jangling from her hand.

She was slightly drenched and out of breath.

'Daya I -' she spoke at once but seeing the angry look on Daya's face, she fell silent.

'Where the hell were you?' he shouted.

'I was -' she spoke but once again Daya silenced her.

'Now don't tell me that you are a CID officer and that you can take care of yourself. I was so worried for you! It's raining outside. Your cell phone is out of coverage! How do I know whether you are safe or not? You are so stubborn you know! Was there any need to make such a big fuss about the stupid argument?' Daya yelled.

Shreya opened her mouth to speak but Daya shouted once again, 'No! I am not done yet! And you will not speak till I am finished! Did you even check your cell phone? I called you almost hundred times. You didn't bother to answer or call back! You didn't even answer Abhijeet's calls! What if I had to give you some urgent message? What if there was some emergency?'

Shreya felt extremely guilty and she couldn't stop tears striding down her cheeks.

She couldn't bear it anymore. A moment later she was hugging him tightly crying her heart out into his chest.

'Daya I am sorry! Let me explain please! I wanted to talk to you since afternoon. But then I was stuck in rain and my mobile got drenched and I couldn't switch it on...' she said sobbing.

He snaked a single arm around her waist and hugged her back.

'Where were you?' he asked in a soft voice.

'I was with Aisha' said Shreya.

'What? Next door?' asked Daya shocked.

'No! No! We went shopping and then after lunch we went to her farmhouse. It's not too far. In all the hurry Aisha forgot her phone at home. I saw your missed calls at around 1 pm when we were having lunch. But that time I was really angry with you. Later I realised I was being stupid and there might be some emergency. I had left my phone near the window and it got wet in the rain and then it stopped functioning completely. Believe me this is exactly what happened' said Shreya breathlessly.

'I know Shreya. So how did you manage to come here? It's raining cats and dogs!' said Daya.

'I was getting impatient. Initially Aisha and I had planned staying at the farmhouse tonight. But I couldn't! I couldn't stay there without talking to you tonight! So I made up some story that I had to go for work urgently. I hailed a cab and came here right away.' she said.

'Good you came. I was missing you already' said Daya.

'I am sorry. I really am.' said Shreya.

'No. I am sorry for yelling at you. I didn't mean a word of what I said.' said Daya.

'Let's just forget all about it now' said Shreya.

'You know this Sunday has turned out to be really amazing' said Daya pulling her close.

She smiled.

'Oh wow' said Shreya scanning the room in shock.

Daya smiled watching her expressions.

'So? What do you think?' he asked eyeing her.

'Oh my god! I don't believe this!' Shreya exclaimed as she scanned the living room and walked into the kitchen to find the grocery stocked up neatly and everything else in its proper place.

'I really love you for this!' said Shreya happily.

'My pleasure love. Now why don't you freshen up a bit? Till then I will brew us some strong coffee!' said Daya.

'I was planning to take a warm shower! Urgh! I hate power cuts!' she muttered.

Few minutes later the house was filled with strong aroma of Brazilian coffee.

Daya went back to their bedroom carrying two mugs of coffee. Shreya had already lit the candles. The flickering flames danced along with the wind casting shadows all around them.

'Why were you calling me in the afternoon?' she asked.

'Ah! That's another story!' said Daya sighing.

'For the first time, I couldn't crack our laptop password!' said Daya.

'What?' asked Shreya laughing hard.

'No wait! The worst is yet to come! While I and Abhijeet were trying to work out the password, ACP sir was attacking us with his annoying looks. It almost felt like a dragon breathing fire down our necks' he said.

Shreya burst into a fit of giggles.

'I swear I had never felt stupider in my entire life!' said Daya.

As Shreya scanned their room, she saw the dirty laundry beside the table, still untouched.

Daya saw her eying the dirty laundry and said looking aghast, 'Shreya! Please don't tell me you are going to argue with me because I didn't do the laundry! It wasn't in your list! And look at the other extra things I have done!'

'No. Not at all. You are quite mistaken. I was just thinking no wonder you couldn't guess the password this time' she said still eyeing the dirty laundry.

'What? What do you mean?' asked quite confused.

'You said it just now! That the laundry wasn't mentioned in the list!' said Shreya smiling widely.

'Oh wait! Don't tell me! The password wasn't _Iforgotomentionthedirtylaundry_ , was it?' asked Daya.

'Well done husband!' said Shreya proudly.

'But wife that's cheating!' said Daya accusingly.

'It's not cheating!' said Shreya.

'It is! How am I supposed to know about the laundry?' asked Daya.

'It was lying here since a week! You could have easily guessed it.' said Shreya.

'That's unfair!' said Daya.

'So you lose the game!' said Shreya.

'Excuse me? How is that?' asked Daya.

'You could guess the password after I gave you the hint!' said Shreya.

'Hints are allowed! And you know what? I have known it all along. I was deliberately acting dumb!' said Daya.

'Oh really?' enquired Shreya.

'Yeah. You know what? Now days you don't put any effort into your passwords! They are too easy for me to guess!' said Daya.

'You just wait! Next time you will regret saying this sentence!' said Shreya.

Their playful banter continued for some more time. At about 11 pm, the power was back.

'Now that I know the password, I'll email the files to ACP sir' said Daya.

A minute later he got a call from Abhijeet.

'All good Daya?' asked Abhijeet.

'Oh yes! More than good actually! Al izz wel!' said Daya.

Then he told him all about the happenings of the evening. Shreya emerged from the bathroom ready for bed rubbing the moisturiser along her arms. She saw that Daya was already in bed, propped up against the headboard, talking on Cell phone with Abhijeet.

A moment later she sniffed her nose.

'Can you smell something burning?' she asked.

'Abhijeet can I put you hold for a minute? Yes actually... But what could possibly be burning inside the house?' Daya asked her.

'I don't know. I'll just go and check it out' said Shreya.

'What happened?' asked Abhijeet.

'Nothing. There's a burning smell in the house. Dunno from where it is coming from - Fuck! I think I know!' exclaimed Daya suddenly.

'Where?' asked Abhijeet.

'I was ironing one of Shreya's favourite dresses. There was a power cut and I left it that way and eventually forgot about it. The power came back ten minutes ago! Oh my god! It must have burnt a hole in her dress' said Daya in horror.

'What?! Daya I think you are going to be kicked out of the house soon!' said Abhijeet laughing hard.

At the precise moment, Daya heard a shrill yell from Shreya.

'Uh - oh. I am dead. I'll just call you back' said Daya.

Abhijeet sniggered.

'Sure. No problem buddy. Just tell me one thing what's the new password gonna be now?' he asked.

' _YouraredeaddayaandnowIamgonnaburnyourarse_ maybe?' said Daya and both of them burst out laughing.

 ***** THE END *****


End file.
